Ikea opens in Japan

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Swedish furniture-maker Ikea is planning to launch again on the Japanese market, 20 years after it aborted its first attempt to establish itself there.

The company will open a 40,000 square metre store in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, on 24th April, Reuters reports. Another store will open in September in Yokohama, and a further development is planned to open in Kobe in 2008. Following this, the company says it aims to open two new stores in Japan every year.

Ikea tried to establish itself in Japan between 1974 and 1986 in a joint venture with a local partner, but the project failed.